Buttonhole-sewing machine



April 28, 1925. 1,535,399 J. w. CONNORS v BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

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UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

JOHN W. CONNORS, OF DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE REECE BUTTON HOLE MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

BUTIONHOLE-SEWING MACHINE.

Application filed March is, 1924..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, dorm W. Connors, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Dedham, county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Buttonhole-Sewing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a two thread buttonhole sewing machine of that familiar type in which the under thread handling mechanism is mounted on a rotary turret that is situated beneath the work-holding means. An exen'il'ilification of sewing machines of this type will be found in United. States Patents No. 1,188,942, June 27, 19116, No. 1,338,373, April 27th, 1920 and No. 1,406,742, February 14th, 1922.

Some buttonh'ole sewing machines of the above-mentioned type are provided with means for cutting the under thread close to the work at the end of the stitching on a buttonhole and in order to ensure the proper formation of the first stitch at the beginning of the next buttonhole it is desirable that a sufficient length of under thread should be d "awn out from the source of sup ply before the first stitch is formed.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide an, improved pull-off device which is mounted on the turret and which acts on the under thread between the under needle and the throat plate at the'end of the stitching on each buttonhole and before the thread is cut thereby to draw off from the source of supply a sufficient length to ensure the proper formation of the first stitch when the stitching operation is begun again.

Sewing machines of the above-mentioned type are usually provided with a tension for the under thread which is carried by the turret and when the pull-01f device for the under thread acts on the latter between the tension and the work so as to pull thread through the tension it is desirable that the tension should be relieved during the pulling-off operation in order to avoid danger of breaking the thread.

Accordingly another object of my invention is to provide an improved tension-1e lease device for relieving the tension on the Serial No. 700,133.

vide a novel means for actuating the tension release and the under thread pull off by the actuating means for the under thread cutter.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a selected embodiment. of my invention.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a buttonhole sewing machine having my improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a front view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an under side View of the bed frame;

Figs. 4 and 5 areviews of the turret carrying the under thread mechanism and showing my improved thread pull-off and tension release applied thereto;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the turret;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88, Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9, Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the washer 51 which is associated with. the tension release;

Fig. 11. is a fragmentary sectional view through the lower end of the turret;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the thread pull-off device.

1 indicates a portion of the bed frame of a buttonhole sewing machine such as illustrated in said patents and 2 the overhanging arm in which reciprocates the usual needle bar 3 carrying an upper needle 4 by which the upper thread is manipulated.

The under thread is manipulated by mechanism carried on a turret 5 which is rotatably mounted beneath the bed frame 1 as usual insewing machines of this type. The

turret and the needle bar are each rotated during the sewing around the buttonhole by the usual mechanism comprising the vertical rock shaft 6 having the gear segments 7 thereon which mesh with gears Scarricd by the turret and needle bar respectively.

The under threadananipulating mechanism comprises the usual looper 9 which is designed to take each loop of upper thread as it is thrown out by the needle 4:, and an under needle 10 through which the under thread 11 is threaded. This needle 10 is carried in the usual needle carrier 12 which is pivoted at 13 and the needle carrier and looper derive their movements by the vertical reciprocating movement of the spindle 14- which extends axially through the lower bearing 15 of the turret, said spindle be ing reciprocated by the lever 16, all as usual in sewing machines of this type.

The turret also supports a tension device 1'? for the under thread and which is herein illustrated as comprising two tension disks 18, 19 that are mounted on a spindle 20 that is secured in the turret as shown in Fig. 5 and which are yieldingly pressed together by the spring 21 the tension of the latter being adjustable by the thumb nut 22 all as usual in devices of this sort.

The under thread 11 extends through the spindle 1%, which is hollow, and out through the slot 23 therein, thence between the tension disks 18, 19 of the tension device and thence through the guide eyes 2 1, 25 to the needle 10.

The sewing machine herein illustrated is also provided with a thread cutter for trimming the under thread beneath the work the thread cutter herein shown being similar to that illustrated in the above-mentioned Patent No. 1,406,742. This thread cutter comprises a thread-cutting member which is pivoted to the clamp plates and which is provided with an extension 26 adapted to be engaged by the lip-standing end 27 of a lever 28 that is pivoted to the sewing machine frame at 29. The end 30 of this lever is adapted'to be engaged by a roll or arm 31 which is carried by a hub 32 that rigid with the main cam 33 by which the move ments ot the various parts of the machine are controlled. the construction being such that just as the stitching on the buttonhole is being completed the arm 31 will engage the end 30 of the lever and swing the latter thereby moving the lip-standing part 27 of the arm to the rightin Fig. 2 and cans ing it to actuate the trimmer for the under thread thereby cutting the under thread close to the work. The lever 28 is returned to its normal position after the arm 81 has performed its function by means of a spring 34.

The parts thus far described are or may be all as illustrated in said above-mentioned patents and form no part of my present. invention which relates to a novel mechanism for releasing the tension 17 on the under thread at the end of the stitching on a buttonhole and pulling otl a length of under thread through the released tension so that when the stitching is started on the next buttonhole there will be a suflicient length of under thread drawn oil? from the source of supply to form properly the first stitch. The thread pull-01f device is in the nature of a lever 35 pivoted at 36 to the turret and arranged so that the end 37 thereof lies directly underneath the throat plate 38 and in position to engage the under thread 11 between the throat plate 38 and the needle 10. This pull-01f lever 35 is in the nature of an elbow lever and it has the two lateral arms 39 between which is received the end 40 of an elbow lever 11 pivoted to the turret at 12. This elbow lever is provided with the lateral projection 13 which is en gaged by the end 1 1 of a stud or pin 15 which is mounted in the turret for vertical reciprocating movement. hen the stud 15 is moved vertically the elbow lever 11 will be turned so as to swing the'upper end 10 to the left Fig. 4 thereby swinging the pulloff lever 35 into the dotted line position Fig. 12 during which movement the end 37 thereof engages the under thread and draws a length of the latter from the source of sup ply.

As stated above the tension. 17 on the under thread 11 is released during this pulling off operation and this is accomplished by the following mechanism.

The rod 15 is mounted in a member 4:6 which is carried by the turret 5 and is adapted for vertical reciprocating move ment, said member having a laterally-extending portion 74 that is received in and guided by a slot 18 formed in the turret. This member 16 is formed with a cam face 19 which engages one end of a tension-re; leasing pin that extends transversely through the turret and the other end of which engages a washer 51 that is situated between the tension disk 19 and the spring 21.. This washer 51 is formed with the transveisely-extending bar 52 which operates in a slot (33 formed .in the stud 20. The end of the tension-releasing pin 50 engages this bar 52 and with this construction it will be observed that when the head 16 is raised the cam surface 19 will force the pin 50 to the right Figs. 6 and 8 thereby moving the washer 51 to the right and releasing the prcssure of the spring 21 against the tension disk 19. This relieves the tension on the thread 11 so that it can be readily pulled through the tension device.

It will be noted from the above that the vertical moven'ient of the member 4-6 not only operates to release the tension on the under thread but also to actuate the pull-oil arm 35. In the present embodiment the member i6 is given its vertical operative movement by the movement of the lever 28 that actuates the cutter 26. For this pur- 'pose I have provided the following mechanism.

Slidable vertically in the turret is a thrust pin 53, the upper end of which engages the portion 74: ofthe member 46 and the lower end 80 of which extends below the gear 8. This lower end 80 is slabbed oil as at 81 thereby forming the shoulder 82, which by its engagement with the nut 83, retains said thrust pin in place. This nut 83, which is made with the notches 84 so that it can be manipulated by a spanner wrench serves to retain the gear 8 in place. Upward movement of the thrust pin 53 will, therefore raise the head 46.

Pivoted to the frame 5a is a lever 55 which has a flange 56 extending therefrom that underlies the gear 8, said flange having the curved edge 57 which is concentric with the gear 8 -and spindle 14. This curved edge is so situated that during the turning movement of the turret in sewing around the end of a buttonhole the thrust pin 53 passes above the curved edge 57 and when in this position an upward swinging movement of the lever 55 will cause the flange 56 to engage the lower end of the thrust pin 53 and through the latter raise the head 46 thereby pulling off the under thread and releasing the tension as above described.

The free end of the lever is formed with a cam face 58 which is adapted to engage a roll 59 carried on an arm 60 that is secured to the lever 28.

The parts are shown in Fig. 2 in the nor mal position which they occupy during the stitching on the buttonhole. hen the stitching on the buttonhole is completed the lever 28 is actuated by the roll 31 all as described -in said Patent No. 1,406,742 thereby swinging the rip-standing part of said lever to the right Fi g. 2. This movement of the lever causes the roll 59 to engage the cam. face 58 and thereby swings the lever 55 upwardly about its pivot 54. This upward movement of the lever occurs when the stitching on the buttonhole is completed and at this time the turret has been turned into the position shown in Fig. 3 so that the thrust pin 53 is situated above the portion 57 of the flange. Consequently the upward movement of the lever will raise the head 46 and operate to release the tension and draw off a length of under thread.

I claim.

1. In a two-thread sewing machine adapted to sew a short seam and then come to rest, the combination with a rotary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a pulloft' device on the turret for pulling ofi a length of under thread, means on the turret to apply tension to the under thread, and means for simultaneously releasing the tension and actuating the pull off.

2. In a two-thread sewing machine adapted to sew a short seam and then come to rest, the combination with a rotary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a pull-oil" device on the turret for pulling off a length of under thread, means on the turret to apply tension to the under thread, a tension-releasing member, and means actuated thereby to operate the pull-oil device.

3. In a two-thread sewing machine adapted to sew a short seam and then come to rest, the combination with a rotary turret having a threat plate, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted on the turret and including a needle, a pull-ofl' device mounted on the turret and engaging the thread between the needle and the throat plate, means on the turret to apply tension to the under thread, and means to simultaneously release the tension and actuate the pull oif.

4. In a two-thread sewing machine adapted to sew a short seam and then come to rest, the combination with a rotary turret having a threat plate, of under thread 1nanipulating mechanism mounted on the turret and including a needle, a pull-01f device mounted on the turret and engaging the thread between the needle and the throatplate, means on the turret to apply tension to the under thread, a tension-releasing member, and means actuated thereby to operate the pull off.

In a sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a rtoary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a pull-elf lever pivotally mounted on the turret and adapted to pull off a length of under thread, a tension device for the under thread carried by the turret, a tension-releasing member carried by the turret and movable vertically thereon, means to release the tension by vertical movement of said member, and means actuated by said movement to operate the pull-ofl' lever.

6. In a sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a rotary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a pull-ofl device on the turret for pulling off a length of under thread, a tension for the under thread also carried by the turret, means to cut the under thread at the end of the seam, and means actuated by the thread-cutting mechanism to release the tension on the under thread and simultaneously actuate the pull-off.

7. In a sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a rotary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a pull-off device on the turret for pulling olt a length of under thread, a tension for the under thread car-- ried by the turret, a thread cutter for cut- &

ting the under thread, an actuating lever therefor, and means operated by said actuating lever to release the tension on the under thread and simultaneously actuate the pull-0T1".

8. In a sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a rotary turret, of under thread manipulating mechanism mounted thereon, a tension for the 10 under thread carried by the turret, an under thread pulloff device also carried by the turret, a thread cutter for cutting the underthread, an actuating lever for operating the thread cutter, and means for releasing the tension on the under thread and actuating the pull-off device by the threadcutting movement of said actuating lever.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN XV. CONNORS. 

